Music giveaway gimmicks 'selfish, irresponsible'

Ian Astbury from UK group The Cult says giving away music for free is disgusting and bands who do it are selfish and irresponsible.

Astbury, who has led the English rock band since their formation in 1983, says the digital age had made things very difficult for musicians - and some are only making the problem worse.

"Whoever was irresponsible enough to decide that music was worth nothing and decide to give away the music, that was a very selfish move," he said.

"When I look at a 17-year-old kid who's starting out in a band and is hearing, 'You know what kid? Your music's worth nothing.' I think that is disgusting.

"I thought it was irresponsible what Radiohead did (letting fans decide what they wanted to pay for their 2007 album In Rainbows). People watch what they do and they copy it.

"I don't see U2 giving their music away for free. They're smart boys."

Astbury says a better option is to give audiences more value for money.

The Cult are planning to put out four new releases this year - EP-style 'capsules' packaged with original short films, conceptual photography and modern art.

Astbury also believes the concept of the album has been "cannibalised" with the growth of digital music sales.

He hopes to renew appreciation for it on The Cult's tour of Australia in May.

They plan to play their celebrated 1985 album Love in its entirety.

Astbury says the record has even more relevance for them some 25 years after it was released.

"We made a record when we were in our early 20s that in some ways was kind of beyond our life experience, because we were dealing with very archetypal themes - love, sex, death, spiritualism, materialism," he said.

"Now we have more experience in those areas and we're more like elders. We've had those experiences and we put that into the music.

"So the way we perform it, it has a real weight, an emotionality to it, that we didn't have when we were younger."